Since typing the preceding post...there have been quite a few developments to bring you up to speed on.
On Friday, May 9th, we traveled to Utica, NY to stay with Kevin and Peggy for the night. The plan, which went off without a hitch, was to drive in while Austin was sleeping, stay the night, then utilize Austin's loving Aunt and Uncle as free babysitters while we went house-hunting. Austin traveled very well and didn't make a peep the whole way...then he slept well enough that he didn't wake up Kevin or Peggy from their own slumbers that night.
After waking up and showering, we drove into Chittenango, to meet with Keith's (second) cousin, Russell, who is a real estate agent in the Syracuse area. Earlier in the week, Russell had provided us with a list of 20+ homes that he thought that we may be interested in based on a criteria that we had provided to him:
- 4 bedrooms (need that many so we can have the guest room)
- no ranches (Christine hates 'em)
- 2 or more bathrooms
- must be located on a quiet street
- must have an adequate yard
- and it all had to meet our budget
So, anyway....we met Russell at his office at 10:00 am, and we were with him through 6:00 pm. We saw 10 or 11 houses in that time, but there was one that Christine kept coming back to in her mind....the first home. It was 18 months old, and the owners needed to sell the home because of a job transfer. It had 2200 square feet of living space and a full basement. The home sat on about a third of an acre of property. It had a beautiful morning room, from which you could walk out onto a very nice deck which led to a patio in the backyard. The kitchen and morning room had hardwood flooring and stainless steel/black appliances. There were 4 bedrooms (with an awesome master suite) and 2.5 bathrooms. There was also a 2 car garage, and the house was on a cul-de-sac. As we drove through the neighborhood, there were a lot of garage doors that were open and you could see the bicycles of children in nearly every one. There were children riding their bikes in the street and playing baseball in a backyard....she couldn't get over the feeling that she had: this was where she wanted to be.
It was perfect. The schools were good, and all of the schools were within a 3 mile drive. The drive for Keith to get to work was only 7 miles. The mall (NJ people: think Paramus Park Mall) on the busy strip (NJ: think Route 17 without the U-turns) was only 13-15 minutes away. There was a grocery store, pharmacy, and (yes) a Dunkin Donuts within walking distance. Everything that she had been looking for was able to be found in this one home. The address was 103 Charlie's Place (don't ask, we don't know who Charlie is).
After meeting with Russell, we had a 45 minute drive back to Kevin and Peggy's house. We knew we didn't need to buy a home right away...most people spend 3-12 months trying to find the right home after all. But on the way back to NJ that night, Keith knew: he had seen Christine's smile when she was in the house, and he saw how no house that she walked into for the rest of the day had measured up in her heart and mind to the first one she saw. He knew that when all was said and done, this was going to be the house that she wanted. And to prevent a long story from becoming even longer, arrangements had been made to purchase the home by Sunday evening.
After that, things had to move pretty quickly to assure that the process moved smoothly. A home inspection needed to be done in 10 days, but there was only one weekend to do it in...so the home inspection took place (without much fanfare) May 17th. The mortgage had to be obtained (we had already been pre-aproved)...and we were able to lock in a very, very competitive rate thanks to the banking industries desire for good candidates after they ruined the mortgage business over the last few years coupled with both of us possessing excellent credit scores.
Since then, things have been slowing down a bit...thank goodness!
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